Last night Russia entered a new and dark phase in its slide toward totalitarian dictatorship with the murder of Boris Nemtsov. Previously, the Putin regime relied primarily on imprisonment and exile to silence opposition politicians. Now, they have started murdering them. I’m sure this won’t be the last.

Boris Nemtsov was one of the few people in Russia who wasn’t afraid to stand up to the corruption, illegitimacy and impunity of the Putin regime and for that he paid with his life. I will always remember how Boris went around the world calling for justice for the murder of Sergei Magnitsky and demanding Western sanctions against his killers. It is now our duty to do the same for Boris.

I have no confidence in any Russian investigation into his death because the Putin regime proved its incapacity to do this with the cover up of the Magnitsky murder.

I can only hope that Boris Nemtsov’s legacy will ultimately bring about the democratic change in Russia he worked his whole life to achieve.

Magnitsky Amendment to Serious Crime Bill Introduced in the British Parliament

23 February 2015 – Dominic Raab MP and a group of 22 members of the British parliament from across all parties have submitted an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill, entitled the ‘Magnitsky Amendment’. Co-sponsors of the Magnitsky amendment include no less than seven current Committee Chairs including Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP (Home Affairs Committee), Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP (Public Accounts Committee) and Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP (Intelligence & Security Committee).

The Magnitsky Amendment will require the government to publish the names of foreign citizens who are not allowed to enter the UK due to their involvement in money laundering, serious organized crime, torture and gross human rights abuses.

The Magnitsky Amendment aims to ensure greater transparency concerning individuals who have been denied entry to the United Kingdom. It builds on the recommendation adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament in its report reviewing the government’s human rights policies, which urged the publication of names of individuals banned from entering the UK due to their involvement in the Magnitsky case.

The Magnitsky Amendment is also aimed to harmonize British legislation with the U.S. Magnitsky Act of 2012, which requires the US Government to publish a list of persons banned from entry to the United States because of involvement in corruption, including the corrupt criminal conspiracy uncovered by late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, responsible for Magnitsky’s torture and death in Russian custody, and other gross human rights abuses. At the moment, the US government has named 32 individuals banned from entering the United States under the U.S. Magnitsky Act.

“The British public doesn’t want the henchmen of murderers and torturers, or their bagmen, slipping through UK border controls, buying up luxury apartments in Kensington, sending their kids to public school here and generally enjoying the high life. Parliament has a chance to make sure people know who is being banned from entering Britain, ensure basic moral principle trumps expediency, and send a message that we’re an open and tolerant country – but not for those with blood on their hands or dirty money in their pockets.”

Rt Hon Sir Menzies Campbell QC MP, said: “This amendment would put paid to those whose serious criminal acts abroad do not prevent them from visiting the United Kingdom. It is intolerable that people whose behaviour falls so far short of a proper respect for the sanctity of life and democratic principles should be able to visit Great Britain without hindrance.”

William Browder, leader of the Magnitsky justice campaign and author of the best-selling book, ‘Red Notice: How I Became Putin’s Number One Enemy’ said, “At the moment we can’t prosecute the people who killed Sergei Magnitsky and commit other abuses in Russia because Putin protects them, but Britain shouldn’t let these people into the UK and the government should make it publicly known that they are not welcome here.”

Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer for the Hermitage Fund, the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. In 2008, he uncovered how a group of Russian officials and criminals stole three investment companies from his client and $230 million they had paid in taxes to the Russian government. Russian officials exposed by Sergei Magnitsky had him arrested on false charges. He was kept in detention for 358 days and killed on 16 November 2009. Russian officials involved in his case were promoted and given state honours in Russia. In the United States, they have been sanctioned under the United States Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which denies them U.S. visa and blocks their assets in U.S. financial institutions.

The struggle for justice in Magnitsky case is described in the thriller by Bill Browder, Red Notice, which has reached No 8 on New York Times best-seller list in the first two weeks since its launch and No 9 on the Sunday Times best seller list in the UK.

Bill Browder, once the largest international investor in Russia, lifts the lid on Kremlin corruption and describes in a devastating new book titled “Red Notice” how Putin and his regime will stop at nothing for the criminal acquisition of wealth, including murder. The book is released today, 3 February 2015, by Simon & Schuster.

This is the first insider’s description of what really happens in Russia today.

Described as “jaw-dropping” and “heart-in-your-throat page turner,” ‘Red Notice’ destroys every myth that Putin regime has created that it is any other than a mafia state.

“Browder’s business saga meshes well with the story of corruption and murder in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, making Red Notice an early candidate for any list of the year’s best books,” says Norman Pearlstine in Fortune.

“The cut and thrust, and the high stakes, make for a zesty tale… It’s a Hollywood ending, right down to the standing ovation given by more than 700 European members of Parliament after passing the legislation,” writes William Grimes in the New York Times.

“Bill Browder writes the way he talks—which is always a good strategy,” says Nick Cohen in Daily Beast.

“This was a terrific book. Part biography, history, and thriller it looks at the author’s career in the world of investment and finance,” says G.I Gurdjieff, one of Amazon’s top 500 reviewers in his 5-star review.

Among other comments on Amazon.com:

“I stayed up way too late reading this book…”

“If you only read one book this year, read Red Notice. You won’t regret it a bit.”

Both chambers of the US Congress have introduced the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability bill, a deterrent for kleptocrats and human rights abusers around the world. The new bill expands and globalizes the Magnitsky Act of 2012, which created targeted visa and financial sanctions on corrupt officials and human rights violators in Russia.

“This is a poignant legacy for Sergei Magnitsky, a man who gave his life for his ideals, to have his name on a piece of legislation which will fight impunity of human rights abusers and corrupt officials around the world,” said William Browder, leader of the global Magnitsky justice movement.

The House version of the Global Magnitsky Bill (H.R. 624) contains stronger language, in particular, directing rather than permitting the U.S. President to impose sanctions on kleptocrats and gross human rights violators. It also assigns the U.S. Comptroller General to examine and report on the implementation of the legislation. The House version of the Global Magnitsky Bill also requires the sanctions list to be published annually on 10 December, which marks the Human Rights Day in commemoration of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

The previous Magnitsky Act of 2012 was a precedent setting piece of legislation requiring the U.S. government to confront impunity, and create consequences for those involved in human rights atrocities in Russia, including the torture and killing of Russian anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and the $230 million corruption he had uncovered. The targeted sanctions included visa bans and asset freezing, as well as a mechanism through which the sanctioned individuals are publicly named, creating a real consequence for human rights abusers in Russia.

The Global Magnitsky Bill extends these tools to foreign government officials and their senior associates responsible for or complicit in ordering, controlling or directing “acts of significant corruption, …bribery, or transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign jurisdictions” and those who “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support” for such activities.

The genesis of the 2012 Magnitsky Act and the extraordinary story of Sergei Magnitsky, whose name now lives in the U.S. law, are featured in the explosive new book by William Browder, “Red Notice,” which will be published on 3 February 2015.

U.S. Senator McCain said ahead of the book launch this week:

“In ‘Red Notice’, Bill Browder tells the harrowing and inspiring story of how his fight for justice in Russia made him an unlikely international human rights leader and Vladimir Putin’s number-one enemy.”